Electrically operating door.



No; 722,446. PATENTED MAR. 10', 1903.-

LCHAMBERS, JR. ELEGTRIGALLY OPERATING DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 12, 1902. N0 MODEL.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 No. 722,446. x I PATENTED MAR. 10, 1903.

J..CHALIIBERS JR.

ELEGTRIQALLY OPERATING DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 12, 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

E0 MODEL. 52- ,0

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l F El "ruauoams wztsns co. Pmwumo WASHINGTDN, D. c.

' UNITED ST T PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH CHAMBERS JR OF DALLAS, TEXAS.

ELECTRICALLY Q PERA TI NG DOO R.

SPEGIFICATIQN'forming part of L tters Patent No. 722,446, dated March 10, 1903. Application filed August 12, 1902. semi No. 119,429. (No model.)

This invention relates to means for electrically operating doors, and is particularly adapted for application to the automatic operation of elevator-doors.

The invention has for its object to provide an improved construction of controlling means adapted to automatically unlatch and open an elevator-door as thecar approaches a floor, said means being under the control of the car operator, so that any desired floor may be passed without opening the door.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved construction of door-operating lever adapted to be automatically actuated and to be cushioned in itsopening action to prevent injury and noise.

A further object is to provide means for retaining a door in an open position when the current upon the main circuit for the opening mechanism has been discontinued.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved construction of latch adapted to be operated by the door-opening lever to prevent movement of the door except through the lever mechanism actuated by the car.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafter set forth, and the novel features thereofparticularly defined by the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of an elevator-shaft with the electrical circuits and controlling mechanismfor the car indicated thereon. Fig.2 is an enlarged detail elevation of thesolenoids for operating the door-opening lever;'Fig. 3, a similar view at a rightangle to Fig. 2 and showing in dotted lines the position of the parts when the door is open. Fig. 4 is a top plan of the parts shown in Fig. 2'; Fig. 5, an enlarged detail elevation of the latch and lower end of the door-operating lever, the open position thereof being indicated by dotted lines; Fig. (3, a similar view showing the operating-lever in its position when the door is partially open. Fig. 7 is a detail of a modified means for retaining the door in its open position when the main current is removed from the solenoids, and Fig. 8 is an elevation showing the parts in Figs. 3, 5, and 7 combined looking from the interior of the well with the car in section and broken away.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to Fig. 1, the letter A indicates a door for the elevator-shaft of any usual construction and mounted in the usual manner-for instance, upon a track or way A each of said doors being provided with an operating-lever B, pivoted at its upper portion B and provided above its pivot with a contact-shoe B adapted to cooperate with the operating means carried by the car, while for the purpose of automatically closing the door a weight B is provided at the upper portion. The operating mechanism for this door is carried by any suitable form of car, as indicated at 0, said car being supported andoperated by means of the cable C, carried upon a drum the shaft of which drum is provided with a sprocket C suitably geared-for instance, by a chain C -to a rotating controlling-disk 0 mounted in any desired manner. This disk is provided with a series of conducting-segments 0, adapted to successively contact with a brush or arm 0 carried upon a fixed support C These conducting-segments are suitably connected with a line-wire D by means of lines D, said wire D constituting one side of acircuit from a suitable electrical generator, as indicated at D while the opposite or return side is composed of a line D extending to the elevator-cage. The linewire D, forming part of the'circuit, is provided with asuitable switch D. within the car I link E, pivotally secured to the upper portion of a core E adapted to be drawn within the solenoid when a current is passed through the coils thereof. Beneath this core a cushion-block E ,of rubber or otherdesired material, may be provided and the solenoidwinding suitably supported from a standard E carried by the upper portion of the car. The rock-shaft E is provided with an extended portion 1?. upon its side next to the door and with an arm E carrying a frictionroller E adapted to contact with the shoe B of the door-operating lever. The cores of the solenoids E and E are arranged to have different lengths of travel, or the solenoids may be of different strength, so that they act conj ointly in their first movement, and one of the same reaches its point of greatest attraction before the other, so that the travel of the remaining solenoid is retarded by the drag or resistance of its associate member past the point of its greatest attraction, and thus the opening or propelling power of the door is reduced in order to prevent a sudden blow, causing injury and noise in the opening movement of the door, which would occur were the full strength of either solenoid applied to the limit of the movement of the door. In the illustration in Fig. 2 the solenoid E is shown with a shorter core than the core F. of the solenoid E, so that the core E first reaches the point of maximum attraction and is then mechanically drawn past that point by the power of the solenoid E, the core of which has not at that time reached the point of maximum attraction, and the travel of the core E terminates slightly before the door reaches its extreme open posi tion. So long as the current remains upon the solenoids the arm E is held in contact with the shoe and the door remains open; but in the continued movement of the car past the door-opening the segment controlling the solenoids, passes from the brush, thus breaking circuit and permitting the cores to drop from the solenoids and the door to close by gravity imparted both byaslight inclination of the track and the weight B carried by the door-opening lever B.

Under some conditions, particularly at night, it is desired to retain the door open when the current is removed from the solenoids, and for this purpose a holding-magnet F is suitably mounted upon the standard F, carried by the car, which also supports the rock-shaft E and a plate F connected to the rock-shaft at an angle to the arm E so that when said arm contacts with the shoe the plate will be in contact with or adjacent to the magnet. This magnet may be energized from any desired source -forinstance, a battery F carried by the car, connected by lines F with the magnet, one of which .lines may be provided with a suitable switch,

as shown at E which when closed causes the magnet to attract the plate and hold the arm E against the shoe, when the main energizing-current for the solenoids may be cut out. A modified form of holding means is also shown in Fig. 7 and will be hereinafter described.

In connection with the door-operating lever B a novel form of latch is provided, which is automatically operated in the movement of the lever to open the door and is shown in detail in Figs. 5 and 6. The door is provided with a guide-rod A suitably mounted in brackets A at the end thereof next the lower end of the pivoted operating-lever B, and slidably mounted upon this rod is a collar G, having at one side thereof a standard G,upon which the latch-finger G is pivotally'mounted at G to engage a pin or projection A carried by the door A. As the operating-arm travels in an arc upon its pivot and the door in a straight path relative thereto, it will be obvious that the collar G and parts carried thereby travel up and down upon the rod in the movement of the door, so that the hook G carried by the latch-finger, when engaging the pin A will prevent this vertical movement, and consequently hold the door. The collar G is also provided with a spring G extending from the latch-finger to a fixed point G6 upon the collar for normally holding the hook in engagement with the pin, while the lower end of the lever B is provided with a curved slot Bithrough which a securing-pin B passes to secure the lever to the collar, yet permit a movement of the lever upon the shank of the pin. The position of the parts when the door is closed is shown by full lines in Fig. 5, and the first movement of the lower end of the lever is upon the pin B which brings the end B ot the lever into contact with the finger G thus forcing it laterally away from the pin A while the continued travel of the lever imparts a downward movement to the collar and all of the parts carried thereby until the door is half-opened, when the parts will be in the position shown in Fig. 6. The continued opening of the door carries the lever into the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5 and would permit the latch-finger to engage the pin and hold the door open. To prevent this and permit the automatic clos IIO ing of the door,an arm H is adjustably mounted at H upon the lever and provided with an engaging end H to contact with the upper end of the latch-finger when the door is fully opened, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5.

Should it be desired to retain the door in its open position by means of the latch-finger G it can be accomplished, as shown in Fig. 7, by

throwing the arm H out of the path of the fin-' may be energized from a battery 1 the circuit of which is provided with a suitable switch I located upon the car or in any other desired place, while the core may be restored to its initial position when the circuit is broken through the coil by means of a spring 1 as shown in Fig. 7.

In the operation of the invention it will be seen that when the switch for the door-operating solenoid is closed upon the car the solenoid will be energized for the purpose of opening each door by the automatic controller, thus rendering necessary only a single circuit and one solenoid for successively operating each of the doors. This solenoid in its action exerts its greatest power at the beginning of its stroke, which first unlatches and then opens the door through the medium of the lever operated by the rock-shaft, and subsequently as the door reaches its limit of movement the power of the solenoid is decreased and the cushioning thereof secured. As soon as the car has passed the door the circuit is broken and the weight of the lower end of the door-lever and parts carried thereby operates to close the'door by gravity, and the movement of this lever in an upward are as it approaches its closed position tends to cushion the closing effect of the door. It will also be seen that the door may be maintained in an open position when the current is removed from the solenoids by the means hereinbefore described, while the door-operatinglever both unlatches and opens the door.

It will be obvious that changes may be made in the details of construction and configuration of the several parts, as well as the application of the invention to different characters of elevators, without departing from the spirit thereof as defined by the appended claims.

Having described my invention and set forth its merits, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a door-opening mechanism, a moving member carrying means for operating a door, a power device for moving said member, an electrical circuit for actuating the door-operating means upon the moving member, a movable controller for intermittently making and breaking said circuit, and means connecting the controller and the power device for said moving member to effect a movement thereof in unison; substantially as specified.

2. In adoor-opening mechanism, a door-operating lever, an ele vator-car,a hoisting-drum for the same, an electrically-operated device for engaging said lever, a rotatable controller having conducting segments thereon and driven from the shaft of said drum, and a brush in circuit with said electrical device upon the car and adapted to intermittently bear upon the conductors upon said controller; substantially as specified.

3. In a door-opening mechanism, a door-operatinglever, an elevator-car,a hoisting-drum for the same, an electrically-operated device for engaging said lover, a rotatable controller having conducting segments thereon and driven from the shaft of said drum, a brush in circuit with said electrical device upon the car and adapted to intermittently bear upon the conductors upon said controller, and a controlling-switch for said circuit upon said car; substantially as specified.

4. In a door-opening mechanism, a door-operating lever, a car having a rock-shaft and lever thereon to engage said door-lever, and a solenoid for oscillating said rock-shaft; substantially as specified.

5. In a door-opening mechanism, a door-operating lever, a carhaving a rock-shaft and lever thereon to engage said door-lever, a solenoid for oscillating said rock-shaft, and an arm extending from said rock-shaft and provided with a pivotal connection with the core of said solenoid; substantially as specified.

6. In a door-opening mechanism, a door-operating lever, a car having a rock-shaft and lever thereon to engage said door-lever, a solenoid for oscillating said rock-shaft, an arm extending from said rock-shaft and provided with a pivotal connection with the core of said solenoid, a bearing-shoe at the upper portion of said door-lever, and arestoring-weight carried by said lever; substantially as specified.

7. In a door-opening mechanism, a door-operating lever, a car having a rock-shaft and lever thereon to engage said door-lever, a solenoid for oscillating said rock-shaft, an arm extending from said rock-shaft and provided witha pivotal connection with the core of said solenoid, a bearing-shoe at the upper portion of said door-lever, a restoring-weight carried by said lever, a retaining-plate carried by said rock-shaft, and a magnet for attracting and holding said plate; substantially as specified.

8. In a door-opening mechanism, a door-operating lever, a car having a rock-shaft and lever thereon to engage said door-lever, a solenoid for oscillating said rock-shaft, an arm extending from said rock-shaft and provided with a pivotal connection with the core of said solenoid, a bearing-shoe at the upper portion of said door-lever, a restoring-weight carried by said lever, a retaining-plate carried by said rock-shaft, a magnet for attracting and holding said plate, a friction-roller upon the contact-arm for said shoe, and a cushioning-block beneath the core of said solenoid; substantially as specified.

9. In a door-opening mechanism, an operating-lever, means for actuatingsaid lever, and a plurality of solenoids simultaneously energized and having independent cores for moving said means disposed so that the maximum attraction of one solenoid is reached after the maximum attraction of the other; substantiall y as specified.

10. In a door-opening mechanism, an operating-lever, and means for actuating said lever comprising a plurality of solenoids simultaneously electrically energized and having independent cores to operate in unison and subsequentlyindependently; substantiallyas specified.

11. In a door-opening mechanism, an operating-lever, means for actuating said lever comprising'a plurality of solenoids simultaneously electrically energized and having independent cores to operate in unison and subsequently independently,one of said solenoids being adapted to mechanically carry the core of the other past the point of maximum attraction; substantially as specified.

12. In a door-opening mechanism, an operating-lever, means for actuating said lever, comprising a plurality of solenoids having cores of different lengths; substantially as specified.

13. In adoor-opening mechanism, a pivoted door-operating lever, means for oscillating the same, a movable connection between the lower end of said lever and door, and a latch automatically operated by the lever in opening the door; substantially as specified.

14. In a door-opening mechanism, a pivoted door-operating lever, means for oscillating the same, a movable connection between the lower end of said lever and door, a pivoted latch-fingerhavinga book, a pin or projection upon the door to be engaged by the hook, a retaining-spring for said finger, and a pinand-slot connection between the lower end of said lever and said movable member; substantially as specified.

15. In a door-opening mechanism, a pivoted door-operating lever, means for oscillating the same, a movable connection between the lower end of said lever and door, a pivoted latch-finger havinga book, a pin or projection upon the door to be engaged by the hook, a retaining-spring for said finger, a pin-andslot connection between the lower end of said lever and said movable member, and an engaging arm carried by said lever to engage the latch-finger and hold the same away from its pin when the lever has reached its open position 5 substantially as specified.

16. In a door-opening mechanism, a guiderod mounted thereon, a collar slidably mounted upon said rod and provided with a standard at one side thereof, a door-operating lever pivoted at its upper portion,and a latchfinger pivoted to said standard and adapted to contact with the lower end of said lever; substantially as specified.

17. In a door-opening mechanism, a guiderod mounted thereon, a collar slid ably mounted upon said rod and provided with a standard at one side thereof, a door-operating lever pivoted at its upper portion, a latch-finger pivoted to said standard and adapted to contact with the lower end of said lever, a pin-and-slot connection at the lower end of said lever with said collar, and a hook portion to said latch-finger adapted to engage a pin upon the door to prevent vertical movement of the collar upon the guide-rod; substantially as specified.

18; In a door-opening mechanism, a guiderod mounted thereon, a collar slidably mounted upon said rod and provided with a stand ard at one side thereof, a door-operating lever pivoted at its upper portion, a latch-finger pivoted to said standard and adapted to contact with the lower end of said lever, a pinand-slot connection of said lever with said collar, a hook portion to said latch-finger adapted to engage a pin upon the door to prevent vertical movement of the collar upon the guide-rod, a spring for retaining said finger in contact with said pin, and means for holding said finger out of contact with said pin; substantially as specified.

'19. In a door-opening system for elevators for a series of doors, a pivoted operating-lever for each of thedoors, a cage or car, an operating device for said levers carried thereby, electrical means for operating said device, and a controller actuated by the power mechanism for the car to intermittently energiZe the electrical means carried thereon; substantially as specified.

20. In a'door-opening system for elevators for a series of doors, a pivoted operating-lever for each of the doors, a cage or car, an operating device for said levers carried thereby, electrical means for operating said device, a controller actuated by the power mechanism for the car to intermittently en'- ergize the electrical means carried thereon, and a latch disposed upon each of said doors and connected to said lever for automatic operation thereby in the preliminary movement of the lever; substantially as specified.

21. In a door-opening system for elevators for a series of doors, a pivoted operating-lever for each of the doors, a cage or car, an operating device for said levers carried thereby, electrical means for operating said device, a controller actuated by the power mechanism for the car to intermittently energize the electrical means carried thereon, a latch disposed upon each of said doors and connected to said lever for automatic operation thereby in the preliminary movement of the lever, a holding-electromagnet for retaining said door in an open position when the main circuit is broken, and means upon the car for controlling the current to said electromagnet; substantially as specified.

22. In a door-operating mechanism, a lever pivoted at its upper portion and provided with a contact-shoe above said pivot and its lower operating portion disposed at an angle to a vertical line when the door is opened and 24. In adoor-operating mechanism, a lever pivoted at its upper portion and provided with a contact-shoe above its pivot and its lower operating portion disposed at an angle to a vertical line when the door is opened and closed, a weight for holding the lever in one position, a standard supported upon the car, a rock-shaft in said standard, a lever therefrom having a roller to contact with said shoe, and a lever at an angle thereto connected to said electrical device for operation thereby; substantially as specified.

25. In an elevator-door-operating mechanism, a car, a hoisting-drum therefor having a cable extending to said car, electricallyenergized door-operating mechanism carried by JOSEPH CHAMBERS, JR.

Witnesses:

G. A. HICKOK, W. H. MARSHALL. 

